Love ROKKAKU!
by Lady Tyria
Summary: Rokkaku is thrust into full frontal contact with St. Rudolph...shounen-ai and humor ensues. Because Rokkaku and SeiRu need some love. Rating mostly for my dirty, dirty mouth.
1. Love ROKKAKU!

By: Orestria (old pen name that she's too lazy to change; lady tyria)

Dedicated to: Michelle who got me addicted to Rokkaku, the rokkaku LJ community that got me info I needed

Date Started: Jan 22, 2004

Rating: PG-13 I guess.

Disclaimer: Obviously not mine, or else the anime would be more 'interesting' winks

Subsequent Disclaimer: 'School's out' is a song by Alice Cooper, not me.

Note(s): ZOMG. I haven't written a fanfic in sooooo long. And I haven't before for Prince of tennis... and so many of the characters have little or no characterization. Since a lot of these characters may not be all that well known, I'll make notes at the bottom about the characters. I make no promises about when this'll get done/if it will get done, or about how often it'll be updated. I'm busy, and I'm trying to focus more on my original writings and school work than fanfiction. Rokkaku needs the love. Oh, and for people who don't know, 'Rokkaku' means hexagon in Japanese (hence the hexagons on their uniforms).

* * *

Love ROKKAKU!

Ch. 1; Love ROKKAKU!

"You know, I've been thinking..." declares the Vice-captain of Rokkaku's tennis team, Saeki Kojirou as he removed his sweaty tennis shirt after practice one warm spring afternoon.

The reactions to this not-too-uncommon non sequitur receives its normal reactions from the rest of the Rokkaku Tennis Club. Dabide opens his mouth to make the same dumb joke he makes every time ('You're allowed to think aloud. Pft.' ). Bane pre-emptively kicks the back of the red-haired boy's head. Kisarazu takes a step a way from his locker (and consequently a step away from the vice-captain). Sudou blushes and hurries off to the washroom, not even wanting to know what the silver-haired boy might be thinking. Far too often it was a 'scar you for life' sort of revelation. Aoi looks to Saeki excitedly and expectantly, a little too stupid to learn from experience that this is almost never a good thing. Finally, Itsuki blows steam from his nose. He tries hard to resist the urge to question the vice-captain, knowing that he probably doesn't really want to know, before giving in and asking, "Nande? What is it Sae-chan?"

"Wouldn't it be cool if we all lived in residence together?" Is the surprisingly not perverted-at-all idea. Saeki smiles innocently, as if it never would have occurred to him to say something dirty. His teammates weren't fooled. Aoi blinks stupidly, and Ryou sighs with relief, then goes to fetch Sudou out of the restroom. It doesn't take long, and when they get back, the multi-coloured hair boy is looking at them expectantly.

"I think it's a bloody stupid idea." Ryou suggests oh-so-helpfully before meandering over in the direction of the boiler room. It was an old machine, and as such it is loud and clanky. Hopefully, it will drown out the rest of Saeki's silly idea so that he doesn't have to suffer any more.

Itsuki looks to Kisarazu, then nods before asking, "Yeah, Sae-chan, why would we do that? What would be so great about it? Huh? What?"

"Well, just think about it! We'd get to hang out a lot more, our combination would get better, we'd have someone to go practice with anytime we want, and the team would all grow closer!" He exclaims, not even thinking about putting his uniform shirt on.

Sudou blanches. Just having to spend time with Kojirou during practice and school was bad enough, he didn't want to imagine what it would be like being accosted by him 24/7. Aoi practically jumps up and down, "That would be SO GREAT. I would LOVE to spend SO MUCH TIME with all of you! It would be like a GREAT BIG PARTY all the TIME!"

Sudou's heart plummets into his stomach. He wouldn't like having his captain around that much either! Dabide nods sagely, before declaring seriously, "No part-time party for us." Bane just as seriously smacks him upside the head.

Sudou feels faint. Those two could be a pain as well, especially when Bane isn't around to keep Amane in check. Then Itsuki puts in his two cents, "Hey, would you really want to do that Aoi-buchou? How does Sae-chan think of such weird things? What is Kizarasu-kun doing over by himself like that?"

Sudou begins rushing to get ready to go home. He's had enough, he wants out for the night. His team scared him. A lot. The vice-captain blinks and looks over in the direction his doubles partner indicates, then yells, 'Hey, Kisarazu-kun, what are you doing?"

This draws all the attention in the room to Ryou, who hasn't even noticed. He hadn't even heard the yelling of either Saeki or Aoi's normal speech. The black-haired boy is brought back to reality as a still-shirtless Saeki grabs him by the arm and drags him back to the centre of the changing room. "Wow, you're really out of it today, Kisarazu-kun. Didn't you hear us yelling?"

"I am not out of it. I think that damn furnace is acting up, it must be louder than normal since I didn't hear you." He states matter-of-factly before joining Sudou in hurrying to get ready.

Saeki, finally donning a shirt, grins lopsidedly, and glomps the shorter player before teasing, "Is that so? Sounds like a pretty lame excuse to me. No, I think you were day-dreaming. That must be it, are you daydreaming about a giirl, Kisarazu?"

Ryou slips out of his vice-captain's arms and slams his locker shut. He grabs his bag off the floor and goes to leave, but just before the door, he looks back over his shoulder at his team and declares, "Fine. Don't believe me. One of these days that furnace is going to break down, or blow up, or something, and then it will be too late to say you believed me."

After he leaves, the rest of the team stare silently after him. Well, silently for a moment at least. "Why made him so mad? What did you mean by asking if he had a girlfriend; do you think he's dating? What are we doing for practice tomorrow morning? Hey, are you listening to me? What?"

* * *

An alarm clock beeps. Not just any alarm clock though, Saeki Kojirou's disgustingly girly alarm clock. Sae likes it more because it was a gift from Fuji Syuusuke and because it tended to scar people for life when they saw it than for what it looks like. He doesn't get what's so wrong about a guy having a carnation pink winged alarm clock egg anyways. Pink's just another colour; it shouldn't be any more or less appropriate than blue, or red, or yellow.

The silver hair boy stretches, and then smacks the clock closed, ending the beeping. He quickly showers and gets dressed. Even though he is the Vice-Captain not the captain, he's the one in charge of opening up the locker room and the courts in the morning. Apparently, some teachers had protested entrusting keys to a freshmen. Saeki doesn't mind when it came to after school or weekend practices, but not being a morning person he still sometimes wishes Aoi could handle early practices for him. In fact, that whole shower and getting dressed process is done in something not-unlike a coma. He scarfs down breakfast, not even really tasting the food (if you asked what he is eating, he would have to look down at the plate to tell you).

It is in this sleepiness-caused zombie-like state that he begins his daily trek to Rokkaku Junior High School. However this normal pilgrimage is interrupted about 5 blocks from school... where the area is taped off. In fact, it is walking into one of the many people crowding around the scene that clues Saeki in that something abnormal is happening. There are policemen patrolling just-inside the taped-off area, making sure no one tries to go past, "What the..."

"What an idiot we have for Vice-Captain," says a slightly out-of-breath but nevertheless annoyed voice from behind him.

Sae turns around to see a panting Kisarazu Ryou -- not exactly a bad sight, all things considered -- in his casual clothes. No one is quite sure how or when it happened, but Ryou had at some point become a bit of a t-shirt junky. Today's shirt is a tight (but not as tight as Saeki would have gone for), short-sleeved black one that proclaims, in red letters, 'Keep Watching. Maybe I Will do a Trick.' Out from underneath flow the long sleeves of a white mesh shirt, long enough to go past the boy's wrists. He has on straight cut red pants that seem a little too long for him since they bunch up at the bottom over his black running shoes. Saeki sniffs, pretending to be offended, "What kind of 'good morning' is that? And why aren't you in uniform, young man?"

"It's the kind of greeting an idiot gets," Ryou answers simply, before grabbing his vice-captain's wrist and pulling the opposite way of the school, "Come on."

As much as Sae might have secretly enjoyed being dragged around by the black-haired boy, he is a little miffed about the way he is being talked to. Ryou hadn't even explained anything, like, why he was an idiot, and why he was out of uniform, and where they were going. He jerks his arm, freeing his wrist, and asks, "Where are we going? What's going on?"

"We're going to Ojii-sensei's house. The school blew up." Ok, so it is a bit of an exaggeration. At least it would let Saeki into the gravity of the situation, without standing around explaining the details, "Hurry up, or we'll be making everyo--"

"No. Way. The school?! This is... AWESOME!" Ryou blinks at the other boy, stunned by his reaction. Then, as if he isn't all ready concerned about the Vice-Captain's sanity, the silver-haired teen begins singing. In English, no less, "School's out for summer. School's out forever. School's been blown to pieces! Out for summer, out 'til fall, we might not come back at a--" It's at this point that Saeki turns with a flourish to Ryou, only to discover he has all ready turned away and started heading for their coach's house without him, "Hey! Kisarazu-kun, wait up!"

* * *

A scant 27-minutes later, all of the Rokkaku Tennis regulars are assembled in the tiny (at least for so many people) living room of Coach Ojii. the rather bizarre old man sits on the only couch, his team making a semi-circle on wooden chairs facing him. He is given the benefit of the comfortable couch because of his age, although he still chooses to sit on his legs, as thought attending a tea ceremony.

"What are we doing here? What's going on? nande? nande?" Itsuko asks. Ojii's only response is some kind of barely audible 'hm'. He begins to raise his arms, his hand slowly forming a fist, and then sticking the index finger pointing forward. His arm, hand and finger shake slightly with age, as it takes a good minute for his finger to finish, pointing to Kisarazu, who bows his head slightly and stands.

"This is mostly what I've heard from the radio but... Apparently the old boiler at school exploded last night," he just barely resists the urge to add 'like I had warned you it would' and continues on, "And as though that weren't bad enough, it took out several local gas and water pipes with it. The school hasn't made any kind of official statement yet but... Considering the damage there's a strong possibility of the school being closed for the year. Ojii-sensei agrees with me, and that's why we've all been gathered here."

As Ryou goes back to sitting, Sudou pipes up (for once), "Excuse me but, how is this a bad thing? Doesn't every kid dream of their school getting blown up sometimes?"

Saeki sighs a little. He had felt the same way upon first hearing the news, but Ryou had explained the situation (thus ruining his mood) on the way there. He stands to answer the question, "It's near the beginning of the semester, it's not like we don't still have to go to school... we just can't go to Rokkaku."

"Ojii says we can STILL PLAY IN THE TENNIS TOURNAMENTS together as a TEAM, which is GREAT! Aoi exclaims, jumping to his feet, unable to contain himself, as usual, "But we need COURTS TO PRACTICE on, and we will have to go to the SAME SCHOOL TOGETHER wherever we go, of course!"

Ryou states a moment at their freshman Captain, who seems... just a little too not bothered in the least, "It isn't as simple as Aoi makes it sound..."

Bane nods, catching on right away to what Kisarazu means, "None of the other schools nearby have courts. Tennis isn't all that popular in Japan."

"Not as popular as poplar. Pft." Kurobane has to get up off his chair and walk across the room to smack his doubles partner upside the head. Everybody shifts over a seat so that he can sit next to Dabide to hopefully prevent any further exposure to his puns.

"This isn't a good time to joke around, Amane." Saeki chastises, which is unusual for such a jovial boy, 'Either we have to go to another school together, somewhere away from home, or the Rokkaku Tennis Club will have to withdraw from the tournaments."

The room does deathly quiet for a moment, just long enough to hear Ojii's old clock ticking.

"NO WAY!" Aoi yells, breaking the silence, "There's no WAY we can just DROP OUT now! We've come SO FAR! And next year, we'll be without SAEKI, ITSUKI, BANE, KISARAZU and SUDOU! This is all of your LAST CHANCE at Junior High Level!"

This somehow moralized and encouraging speech got a pretty much unanimous agreement from the others. Sae smiles. He'd been a little worried. he turns to their coach, "You heard the Captain and the team, Ojii-sensei. We're going to stick together. We can't afford to get an apartment or anything thought... so we'll need a school with a dormitory. Where can we go?"

Ojii nods simply at each of the vice-captain's points, then tilts his head to the side for a moment while thinking it over. He begins to raise his arms, his hand slowly forming a fist, and then sticking the index finger pointing forward. His arm, hand and finger shake slightly with age, as it takes a good minute for his finger to finish, pointing once again to Kisarazu-kun.

Everybody turns to look at the long-haired boy. itsuki asks the question on everybody's mind, "What? What does Kisarazu-kun have to do with this? Why is Ojii-sensei pointing at him? Nande?"

Ryou shakes his head, not understanding the enigmatic coach himself, "I don't know eith–" His eyes widen suddenly with revelation and he makes eye contact with the old man, who nods ever so slightly.

"What is it, Kisarazu-kun?"

"...He's pointing at me because of my brother. Atsushi's currently a tennis regular at, and lives in the dormitory of... Saint Rudolph Junior High."

A second silence falls over the living room. Saeki tries desperately to think of another school, preferably without a high level rival team, but comes up empty handed. Bane is the first to speak up this time, "Well then, it's basically settled, isn't it? It's go to Saint Rudolph, or give up this tennis season, and I know which I'd rather too. I'd do a lot worse than go to that school to keep playing tennis."

This brought forth a murmur of approval from all the regulars. Well, except Aoi who couldn't do anything as quiet as murmuring. He shifted a few times in his chair, excited hearing the assent from the members, and then leaps to his feet. "OK! Hear that Ojii-san! It's UNANIMOUS! This is FANTASTIC!"

The old coach rises to his feet, and actually speaks for once, "I'll right. I will arrange it. You're all dismissed."

* * *

Just outside, Saeki watches Ryou as he turns to leave. Funny, he would have thought the other boy would be thrilled, but instead he finds him looking sullen. Not wanting to let a team mate leave looking so depressed, he goes into action, "Oi, Kisarazu-kun. What's up?"

Ryou turns to his Vice-Captain, not quite understanding, "What do you mean?"

The silver-haired boy takes this as permission to approach, and does so, "Well, I would have thought you'd be excited about getting to go to Saint Rudolph. I mean, you get to spent some time with your little brother. Instead, I find you moping like this."

"...Saeki-senpai. Atsushi, he... he never told me why he left Rokkaku."

Now it's Sae's turn to be confused, "He didn't tell me either, or anybody else, what does that matter?"

"It doesn't matter that he didn't tell you, he's not your twin brother. Since he didn't tell me, that can only mean one thing," Seeing absolutely no understanding from the other tennis player's face, he adds quietly, "It means that I was the problem. Good night, fukubuchou."

"H-hey, wait!" Saeki exclaims as Ryou turns away from him again, "I could..uh, walk you home..?"

"No need. Besides, I know your house is in the opposite direction." With that, the raven-haired boy walks off, leaving his Vice-captain and the rest of his tennis team far behind. Once he's certain he's by himself with no pesky team mates stalking him, he sits down on the curb a few blocks from his house and looks up at the tree line, "Atsushi... What did I do that was so intolerable as to make you leave?"

* * *

To Be Continued

* * *

Characters

(for people who don't know Rokkaku that well. Which is probably everyone since they're basically not characterized much at all ;)

Aoi Kentarou, Freshmen, but because of the weirdness of the coach, also the captain. So loud and hyper that his very presence generally tends to cause Ryoma physical pain. Like. Enough for you to see it on his face. He has a wooden racket (like all of Rokkaku) but his is special because it's hexagonal with the strings being set up hexagonally too.

Saeki Kojirou, third year, Vice-captain (which I think I said more than his name XD). He's a childhood friend of the Fuji brothers, and has impressive vision, able to use this to detect his opponents next move from small muscle habits. He's not as evil as Fuji Syuusuke, but you can still generally bet that he's up to something.

Itsuki Marehiko, Saeki's doubles partner in the show. He has a big nose, and he blows steam out of it. He asks questions. A lot. About everything. That'saboutit.

Kurobane (Bane) Karukaze, plays doubles with amane... and keeps him in line too... generally with violence. Obviously the most patient man alive to put up with the things he has to put up with.

Amane (Dabide/David) Hikaru. I've seen his nickname be either Dabide or David, I use Dabide. He plays doubles with Bane, and makes horrible puns. I think I tend to underuse him since I find the puns a bitch to write. If you want me to use him more, become my pun-bitch. I do like him, I just can't write him. he has a freakishly long racket.

Kisarazu Ryou, twin brother of Atsushi from Saint Rudolphe. I think a goal of this story is to characterize him a bit. I'm mostly going from what I saw in the anime, which had him being quiet but confident. Of course, he's a little down trodden because he has to put up with some pretty insane team mates.

Sudou Satoshi. I am about 95 sure he exists. I don't remember seeing him in the anime, althuogh I have seen a picture of him. Because of the fact that I know almost nothing about him, I have decided that he obviously must be shy and hiding from his scary weirdo team. I think he might have ugly helmet hair. If he exists.

Ojii. The coach of the rokkaku, and he makes them all wooden rackets. I think I made him talk more than normal, with his three sentences. He spends a lot of the anime slowly pointing at things and hoping people get the hint. he also sits like he's at a tea ceremony on benches, annoying girl's pink hankys, etc. He has a really long beard.

* * *

If anyone wants to make corrections in my info, if they, say, actually know something, that would be way cool. Reviews and comments loved. Thanks for reading... since, Rokkaku needs some lovin'. 


	2. Love SeiRu?

By: Orestria (old pen name that she's too lazy to change; lady tyria)

Dedicated to: Michelle who got me addicted to Rokkaku, the rokkaku LJ community that got me info I needed, and Sierra. For helping me make the phone ring. I'm so pathetic sometimes.

Date Started: Jan 22, 2005 (story) Jan 28 (this chapter)

Rating: PG-13 I guess.

Disclaimer: Obviously not mine, or else the anime would be more 'interesting' winks

Note(s): If you don't know the Rokkaku characters, there are notes about them (or about my use of them) at the bottom of chapter one, which I'll assume you've read before reading this one. Hopefully people know the Saint Rudolph boys a little better, but I know some of them garner the reaction of 'he was in tenipuri?' so I guess I'll do SeiRu character summaries at the bottom of this chapter.ha. I had the date as 'Jan 22 2004' for the first chapter. That should be 2005. I hate Januaries

* * *

Love ROKKAKU!

Ch. 2; Love SeiRu?

Mizuki Hajime had been having a good day, that is, until he got to practice. He counts again in his head, all the while twirling one strand of hair around his finger, and once again comes up short. This is absolutely inexcusable. One of his regulars is... missing. Such an absence reflects poorly on him as a manager. Once more, since he could hardly believe any of his players would have the cheek to skip practice, he checks again. First there is himself, of course. Leaning against the chain link fence unobtrusively near the practicing non-regulars. Rather, it would be unobtrusive if he weren't the rather devious manager of Saint Rudolph's boys tennis team. As it is, his mere presence is enough to keep the juniors on task without any real effort on his part. He pushes off the fence, and heads towards the regulars.

Over on the main courts, Nomura Takuya stares wide-eyed at the spot where the ball had just hit. He had barely even seen it coming, and he certainly hadn't had time to react as it flew past, "So fast...!"

The vice-captain's opponent, Fuji Yuuta, smirks slightly at his No-Touch Ace. It is the sort of expression that the younger brother of the tennis genius of Seigaku would rarely if ever make off the tennis courts. Mizuki shifts his gaze away from Yuuta just in time to see the team captain Akazawa Yoshiroh finishing off his doubles partner Kaneda Ichiroh with a brilliant smash. The team manager certainly approves of having a little flourish to your game, but that sort of behaviour would not help with their all ready sub-par doubles combination. He makes a mental note to have yet another little talk with the Captain on the subject. Since he'll need someone to watch over the juniors, he stops, slinking up behind Akazawa, who is too busy enjoying his victory to notice him, and slides a slim hand onto the taller boy's shoulder.

The Captain spins around only to look down with a strange combination of contempt and concealed terror. He takes a step back, hoping rather futilely to regain his personal space, knowing from experience that it will never really work. It takes all his will power as a stoic captain to not blabber, and Akazawa is actually quite proud that in the face of the black haired boy's 'usual' treatment, he only stutters a little, "M-Mizuki-kun. What do you want?" Yoshiroh winces, wishing he could shoot himself for using that particular phrasing with the Manager, but luck is on his side for once since Mizuki is on a mission.

"Akazawa-buchou," the dark-haired boy murmurs, mostly because he knows that using such a sensuous tone of voice will always freak out the taller boy. As expected, the captain fairly twitches as Mizuki leans in closer, "I'm busy, but the juniors require supervision. I'm sure as their Captain you won't allow them to go on without guidance, right?"

"Aa. Of course," Akazawa nods before using this chance to escape from the manager. He toys with the idea of running, but his pride would never allow that, so he simply turns on his heel and walks as quickly as he can while still maintaining some dignity. A slim finger rises up and twirls a strand of black hair as its owner chuckles before moving on to Court C, where Kisarazu Atsushi and Yanigasawa Shinya ought to be playing a match, but it is most definitely vacant. Decidedly in a foul mood now, Mizuki wonders if he could possibly be missing two regulars, which is an even more impossible idea than missing one!

Finally, he comes into sight of one of the absent doubles team's members. Yanigasawa is at the wall, practicing with himself. Now knowing the identity of the missing regular, and having a rather convenient doubles partner to interrogate, the Manager picks up his pace, quickly closing the distance between himself and his teammate, who is spared from the 'usual' manager treatment since, well, since Mizuki has standards. He stands still a scant second without being noticed before making his presence known, "Yanigasawa-kun."

Yanigasawa Shinya had not been having a good day. He had spent the entire practice thus far being nervous as all hell. Finally, while practicing against the wall, out of their evil manager's line of sight, he had been able to relax a little. Then, the cause of his nervousness calls out for him, almost from right next to him! When had Mizuki gotten there! The manager's appearance is enough to completely throw his concentration, and he utterly misses the sweet-spot of his racket, barely hitting the ball at all. The ball is sent flying high up over the wall and out of sight. The two tennis players watch the ball sail away, Mizuki apparently rendered temporarily speechless by this display of incompetence.

Quickly composing himself after that pathetic display, he sweeps a hand through his hair. To display his annoyance at the current situation, he skips straight to the point, "Yanigasawa-kun, you wouldn't happen to know where Kisarazu-kun is this afternoon, would you?"

"Uh... M-Mizuki-kun da ne. I don't know how to tell you this da ne... But-"

"Get onwith it." Mizuki urges, his patience quickly wearing thin. He crosses his arms in front of his chest in a subconscious gesture. He doesn't want to have to listen to five minutes of stammering and 'da ne's just to get his answer.

"Kisarazu-kun s-said he wasn't coming today da ne!" Shinya blurts everything out quickly, so quickly it is almost slurred all together. He takes a step back, really not sure how the manager is going to react, and not necessarily wanting to be around to see. He feels it is to his credit that he doesn't run away or shrink back, no matter how much he wants to at that moment.

Mizuki Hajime is quite taken aback. Outright insubordination? What could drive the usually so acquiescent Kisarazu to such an act? Hajime snarls, his control over his team being challenged, "And why on Earth not?"

"Did you hear the news this morning da ne? Rokkaku Junior High exploded or something da ne. Kisarazu-kun has been trying to contact his older brother all day da ne." The doubles player babbles, trying to hurriedly explain everything so as to hopefully avoid the wrath of their slightly evil manager.

Mizuki's normal smirk returns to his face. A perfectly legitimate (if annoying) family reason, not disobedience. Furthermore, he can use this situation to his advantage. Helping the Kisarazu boy to get through this situation will get him further loyalty from both members of the double team, with a minimal of fuss, and help his image as an amazing manager. "It can't be helped. Since Akazawa-buchou is watching over the juniors, go play a practice match with Kaneda-kun. I'll go check on Kisarazu-kun."

Yanigisawa goes from being simply relieved over his lack of punishment, to immensely grateful over Mizuki's concern about his doubles partner, "Thank you da ne! I'll work hard here da ne! You go take care of Kisarazu-kun da ne!" He runs off contentedly to play his match, confident that the manager will take care of everything. Hopefully without causing too much trauma in those around him.

* * *

In a park downtown, in a small wooded area, in an even smaller clearing within the wooded area, crouches Kaidoh Kaoru. The Viper of Seishun Gakuen had been distracted from his walk home by a quick glimpse of a feline tail disappearing off into the park.

Snake eyes meet cat eyes as he creeps ever closer. One hand slithers out ahead of him towards the intrigued but apathetic feline. Just as an eager finger tip manages to brush against the warm fur, the tennis ball tumbles out of the sky and strikes the back of his head. The unfortunate Kaidoh tumbles face first into the ground, as the cat mewls in indignant shock before running off to safety.

* * *

Kisarazu Atsushi puts down the phone receiver after yet another failed attempt to catch his older brother Ryou at home. He'd left a message on his twin's cell as well, but he keeps calling the home line just in case the cell is out of batteries, or something like that. Ok, so maybe he just likes it better when he feels like he's doing something instead of sitting around idly waiting for news. He stares at the phone, imploring it to ring. Interrupting this tense silence is an insistent knock on the dorm room's door.

With a parting glare to the useless phone, Atsushi treads over to the door and cracks it open to find Mizuki Hajime. Being in a poor enough mood as it is, he goes to close the door again, hoping to avoid having to deal with his evil tennis manager. However, the sly boy is too quick, and manages to sneak in a foot, and then slide entirely into the room. Fortunately for Kisarazu, Mizuki lets the rather rude gesture slide... for the moment at least. Instead the manager leans against the door, closing it in the process, before beginning what is a little too obviously a concerned act, "Kisarazu-kun, I couldn't help but notice your absence from practice. Of course, I heard the news about Rokkaku this morning on the radio, so I just had to come up here and check on you myself."

"You didn't have to check up on me, Mizuki." In fact, Atsushi will prefer it he doesn't in the future, but he isn't about to say that. He goes back over to his bed and sits on the edge, resuming his staring contest with the telephone, "Haven't heard from him yet."

Mizuki swaggers over until he is standing directly in front of the other tennis player. He leans over until his bangs are brushing against the other's, so that he can't possibly avoid the manager's gaze. He elaborates,"You're going to ruin your immune system and catch yourself a cold fretting like this, and he wouldn't want that. He's probably busy figuring out what's going to happen for the rest of the year, or something like that. Rokkaku might be closed for some time, you know."

The younger twin shifts and moves to the side away from his manager whose obsession with closeness is not exactly making him feel better, then closes his eyes and tries to calm himself down. What Mizuki said may be true, this situation is making him feel a bit unwell, but- "Even so, Mizuki-san, I won't be able to feel at ease until I hear from him. I know it's not likely that anything's actually happened to him... it didn't say anything on the radio about injuries or anything, but..."

Then finally the phone rings, and like a sudden storm after a drought, its waters revitalizing the dry earth, all of Atsushi's energy floods back to him as he fairly springs at the infernal machine. When he answers it, his voice reflects more of his anxiety than he would have liked, "Hello? Ryou?" He lets out the breath he knew perfectly well he'd been holding, giving a small smile of relief.

Mizuki saunters over closer, hoping to catch some of the words from the other side of the line, but all he can hear of the Rokkaku player is dull and incomprehensible from this distance. His curiousity will never be satisfied with just one half of this phone call, so he will certainly be getting the full scoop from his player afterwards. Still, he listens closely for hints as to what is going on, to help with the impending interrogation.

"Thank goodness, I'm glad... So that's what happened. What about your school year?" Aha, the big money question. Almost despite himself, Mizuki leans forward slightly, trying futilely to catch some of those words, like, trying to catch minnows with one's bare hands. Due to his proximity, the manager is almost hit when Atsushi suddenly jumps back, eyes wide, "Eh! Does that mean! Can Ojii-san do that? Ugh. So everything's really just all up in the air still. I hope everything works out... no, no, I'm fine. Don't worry. I'm glad everybody's all right. Aa. I understand. Ok, I'll talk to you later then. Bye."

Atsushi continues to stare forward even after he hears the line disconnect, stunned by whatever it is his brother had told him. Mizuki clears his throat, but fails to gain the attention of the other tennis player. Slightly irritated by being ignored, even momentarily, by the other boy, he takes the receiver from him and puts it back in its holder. The doubles player is still lost in his thoughts, so Mizuki gently solicits, "Kisarazu-kun." However again he receives no reply. He smirks slightly, deciding rather gladly to move on to a slightly more drastic attempt. He slides an arm around the shorter player's waist, and whispers his name into his ear.

The younger twin comes out of his stupor at this and immediately shoves his evil Manager away. He doesn't care if Hajime's 'usual' treatment for pretty much all the Saint Rudolph regulars is a bit more touchy-feely than most would care for, that had been simply too far, "Mizuki!"

"Hmph, kids these days. So rude. Here I am, just trying to help..." He realizes that he's not really going anywhere with that argument, and flips his hand through his hair to regain his composure, "Anyways, what did your dear older brother tell you that was so shocking?"

"Ryou said... That they might be coming here. Well, they're hoping to be able to come here."

Mizuki stares at the black-haired boy for a moment, feeling a bit of the shock the other teen had displayed earlier, "'They'. You mean Rokkaku's team? And they'll be joining Saint Rudolph?" This is a cause for celebration, if this means what he hopes it means. Between the currently regulars of their school and the regulars of Rokkaku Chuu he could make a sort of super regular team! Data quickly flies through his head as he tries to grasp the enormity involved.

Atsushi observes Mizuki's curiously vacant expression for a moment before realizing what his manager is thinking, "They aren't coming here to join our team, Mizuki-san. That's why I said they might be coming here. Ojii-san, er, he's the coach for Rokkaku, he's trying to strike a deal with the Headmaster for them to school here, and share the courts with us, but continue to play in the championship as Rokkaku Chuu. Can... Can they do that, Mizuki-san?"

"Not usually, no. However this is quite an unusual circumstance... Part of the decision will come down to our tennis club as well, whether we want to share our court space or not..." Mizuki smothers his urge to smirk at the wistful expression on the other boy's face. So, the younger twin who left his school because of his brother doesn't want that same brother to lose his chance for success, hm? That is interesting information. Hajime realizes all the data he could gather from having the other school there, and the increase in morale and competitiveness. Not to mention some easy grateful loyalty from the short-haired twin. Finally, he does smirk, before declaring, "Well... It would be no great victory for us if one of the strong teams drops out of the competition... I will have a talk with Watabe-Sensei. Not only will the Saint Rudolph Tennis Club allow Rokkaku to share the courts, but we will request that the Headmaster allows them here."

* * *

The next day, Mizuki Hajime is rather conspicuously absent from tennis practice. Apparently the Captain knew this was going to happen in advance since he begins and controls practice without even waiting to see if the Manager iss just going to make a fashionably late appearance. Akazawa ignores any questions from the juniors about the whereabouts of the team manager, meanwhile the Regulars are enjoying their respite too much to really inquire. After a few minutes, it doesn't seem that different from any other practice (Mizuki must have told Akazawa exactly how he wanted practice to progress), except that there is a lot less of Mizuki's lack of consideration for the personal space of others.

With only ten minutes left in practice, Mizuki finally shows up. He must be deep in thought because he takes over watching the juniors from Akazawa rather quietly. The captain doesn't ask about the manager's silence, although that is less out of respect and more out of caution brought about by the pure-evil smirk on Hajime's face. At the very end of practice, Mizuki calls the whole tennis team to Court A, regulars, juniors and freshmen alike. Nobody particularly enjoys gathering in front of him, all wary of how, well, how happy he seems. It just can't be a good thing.

"I have a bit of an announcement to make. Things are going to be changing around here. I don't know how many of you have heard of the explosion at Rokkaku Junior High, but since the school is closed for the rest of the year... their tennis team's regulars are coming here. Unfortunately, they will not be joining our team, however we will be sharing our court space with them so that they can continue to participate in the competitions." Many of the juniors groan, anticipating far less opportunities for practice matches. The regulars groan as well, but that's because they are close enough to see that Mizuki is still smiling, even when he says 'unfortunately', which, just like his happiness earlier, can't be a good thing. He finishes with a flourish, "Of course, I expect every one of you to treat them with fairness and respect, and help them to get adjusted. Dismissed!"

* * *

To Be Continued

* * *

Characters

(for people who don't know Seiru. Well, really it's for people who don't know, like, Nomura, since most know mizuki and yuuta... anyways)

Mizuki Hajime, third year, Manager (but with more real power than the Captain, because he's evil). He's devious, underhanded, and wears far too much purple. He plays a sort of data tennis, although not exactly the same as Inui's, and is more than willing to manipulate others for his own personal gain.

Akazawa Yoshiroh, third year, Captain (but with no real power). He's tall and he's kind of scary. He apparently is more used to singles than doubles, although Mizuki makes him play doubles with Kaneda.

Fuji Yuuta, second year, the younger brother of the tensai/prodigy Fuji Syuusuke, Mizuki recruited him from Seigaku. He hates being compared to his brother, and wants to be known on his own merit and not as 'the brother of Fuji'.

Yanigasawa Shinya, third year, plays doubles with Kisarazu Atsushi. Called 'ducky' by many a tenipuri fan. He says 'dane' at the end of every sentence, which can be rather annoying, but he and his partner do have good combination.

Kisarazu Atsushi, third year, the younger twin brother of Ryou from Rokkaku. He was recruited by Mizuki from Rokkaku, and made to cut his hair and wear a ribbon so that people could tell him apart from his brother. He plays doubles with Shinya.

Kaneda Ichiroh, second year, plays doubles with Akazawa, and has very little characterization in the show. He appears to be pretty good at doubles since he manages not to play horribly with Akazawa who is used to singles.

Nomura Takuya, third year, vice-captain. He wears glasses. he never played or really did a damn thing in the show. he's the weakest player on Seiru because Mizuki stacked the singles matches against seigaku.

* * *

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first part! Ha, there was so little rokkaku in this chapter it's almost like the title is false advertizing... don't worry, from here on in, there will be more rokkaku (and Seiru) goodness . 


	3. Sudou's Sucky Start

By: Orestria (old pen name that she's too lazy to change; lady tyria)

Dedicated to: Michelle who got me addicted to Rokkaku, the rokkaku LJ community that got me info I needed

Date Started: Mar 17, 2004

Rating: PG-13 I guess.

Disclaimer: Obviously not mine, or else the anime would be more 'interesting' winks

Note(s): I have no real functional knowledge of Japanese, so there may be mistakes with honorifics. I'm admitting that right now. I would just leave them out except they add an important layer on things. Probably a good time to note that these are un-beta'd. I think Mizuki is officially OOC judging by the responses I've gotten. He's going to STAY that way since I have a lot of trouble writing Mizuki and this has been the easiest it has ever been for me to write him. Besides, this is a humour story, so just revel in the crackiness. Also, special thanks to our guest star from last chapter, Kaidoh Kaoru from Seigaku.

Love ROKKAKU!

Ch. 3; Sudou's Sucky Start

* * *

"I'm so EXCITED!" Aoi exclaims, for the nth time during the bus trip. Sudou begins to silently but repeatedly smack his head against the seat in front of him. Once again their young captain's assertion of his glee has come just when he was about to finally fall asleep. Oh, how he longs for sleep. If he were asleep, he wouldn't have to put up with the insanity of his team mates... at least until they reached Saint Rudolph.

"Why are you head-butting the seat? Is it fun? What are you trying to do? Nande?" Itsuki asks, leaning over the back of Sudou's seat to ask his questions. Rather than answering the large-nosed teen, Sudou increases the frequency and intensity of his head butts.

Ryou, no longer able to ignore the abuse of his backrest, turns in his seat and catches his teammate's head between his hands, "Stop it. That's really annoying. Don't you have any respect for others?"

Sudou Satoshi twitches. The lack of respect for his sanity is exactly what is getting him down! Saeki, who had yet to stay in his own seat for give minutes in a row the entire ride proceeds to climb over the back of Aoi's seat to get to his own, "Settle down, guys. Let's not fight tonight. This is a big day. We need to be seen as a unified strong team right from the get-go."

"A dream team. Pft," extrapolates Dabide. Bane leans over from his (rather strategic) seat behind his doubles partner to whack him upside the head.

"That one was even worse than usual," Kurobane declares simply. Saeki takes the opportunity to slip into Amane's seat unbidden.

"Was it worse than normal? How can you tell?" Bane doesn't answer Itsuki's questions since he's too busy being shoved against the window by the vice-captain's sudden decision to join him in his seat. After witnessing this event, he strange nosed player adds another question, "Why can't Sae-chan sit still tonight?"

"Because, my friend, I'm at least as excited as our captain." The vice captain stands for this declaration and then slides into Itsuki's seat, "Why?" he asks, just as his sometimes doubles partner asks the same thing, "I think I'll keep that to myself for now, It-chan."

"He says, as if it isn't painfully obvious why he's so excited. After all, we're going to be meeting up with Atsushi again," Ryou states simply, watching Saeki's meanderings only because the fall of night had ruined his previous pass-time of watching the scenery slide past the bus.

"Actually, that's only part of the reason, Kisarazu-kun," Sudou glares pathetically as Saeki scrambles over the seat back, invading his seat to talk to the twin.

Itsuki leans over the seat back in between Sudou and Saeki, "Shouldn't Ryou-kun be more excited? Aren't you glad to see Atsushi-kun again? Why'd he leave anyways?"

The bus suddenly goes quiet. An innocent enough question, but everybody immediately realizes that it was practically a taboo subject, something they had never discussed together. It is still a bit of a raw sore in the Rokkaku collective consciousness. All attention now is on the older twin, the party-like atmosphere becoming unusually uncomfortable. Ryou turns back to his window. How can he admit to everybody what he knows?

Saeki looks around to everybody, wanting to spare Ryou from having to answer. He remembers only too well what he'd been told on the subject the day it was decided they would be going to stay at Saint Rudolph.

_"Atsushi never told me why he left Rokkaku... Since he didn't tell me, that can only mean one thing," Seeing absolutely no understanding on Saeki's face, Ryou had added softly, as if he was a great sin even to whisper it, "It means that I was the problem."_

When his eyes meet those of his Captain, he can tell that Aoi is silently urging him to fix the ruined atmosphere. The tension must be very conspicuous if it is keeping even the rambunctious first year hushed. Saeki uses the aisle for once, almost like a normal person, to slide into the long-haired boy's seat. before Ryou can snap at him to keep his mouth shut about the incident, he pulls a little at the sleeve of the twin's hoodie, and inquires, "What, no slogan T tonight?"

Ryou stares blankly at his Vice Captain a moment, not really comprehending the subject change for a moment. He responds hesitantly, suspicious of the motives behind the question, "It's... under the sweater. It's too cold out to be walking around in a T-shirt at night."

"Is that so? Which one is it?" Saeki interrogates, noticeably a little too interested in the subject for Ryou's comfort. Without giving him even a chance to respond, the silver-haired boy grabs the bottom of the hoodie and tries to lift it up to reveal the lettering in question.

"--Hey! Stop that!" Ryou firmly holds down the front of his sweater while trying to move away from the other boy. It is a rather poorly thought out plan, since this only succeeds in him cornering himself against the window.

Sudou watches, rather dumbfounded, as the rest of the regulars take this as a cue to start acting like nothing had happened; Itsuki asks why people never answer his questions, Amane makes a stupid pun about shirts, Kurobane hits his doubles partner for said pun while not missing a beat in his conversation with the very excited (and thus very loud) Aoi. None of them are paying any attention to Ryou and Saeki who are practically wrestling in the front seat.

Sudou leans over the seat back, having decided on an easy way to take out his frustration. He catches one of Ryou's flailing arms right away. It takes a bit more effort to get the other one, since he no longer has the element of surprise on his side, but once he has them both he pins them up over the twin's head, allowing the vice captain to easily slip up the hoodie. Itsuki notices Saeki's victory and asks, "So, Sae-chan, what does it say?"

The white font on the black shirt is so small that Saeki has to lean in to read it, " 'Nosey little fucker, aren't you?' "

"What that really necessary? Did you really need to swear at me? Is it a crime to--?"

"No, no, It-chan. That IS what Ryou-kun's shirt says."

"Don't you usually call him Kisarazu-kun?"

"We're all going to have to get used to calling him Ryou-kun again or else everyone will get confused between his brother and him," Kurobane points out.

"Oh brother, what a bother. Pft." Dabide's usual bad pun receives the usual response from his doubles partner, in the form of a quick boot to the head.

Every player on the bus suddenly slides to the left, those who were on the right side of the bus sliding into the aisle, and those who were on the left slide hitting the windows, Ryou especially squished since Saeki was still in his seat, as the bus squeals to a stop, sliding to the left to avoid a tiny, ugly pink car it that had just cut it off. The bus driver honks furiously at the driver, mumbling to himself something about 'women drivers'. Bane clambers over to his window and catches a glimpse of the woman just before she speeds away. He could have sworn he recognized her, then he sees the photography equipment in the backseat and he is sure he knows her. She is the annoying photographer from the match they had with Seigaku, right? He couldn't remember her name though, and since he's not sure, he doesn't feel any need to mention it.

The bus quickly gets back on track, pulling onto the street that Saint Rudolph Junior High resides on only moments after their near-accident. The bus driver couldn't be happier. That crazy woman from before was only the icing on the cake of this horrible trip. These kids were all seriously weird. Besides, who in their right mind puts seven junior high kids on a bus without adult supervision anyways? Are they all orphans or something? He heaves a sigh of relief as he finally turns into the school drive way, pulling to a stop alongside a woman in her mid-thirties and.. another three teenage boys. The bus driver comes to a solemn decision at the same moment as he parks his vehicle: he's going to go home tonight and have a nice, long drink.

Without any consultation between themselves, the Rokkaku boys grab their onboard bags and file out of the bus with Aoi first, followed by Saeki, then itsuki, Ryou, Sudou, Kurobane and finally Amane. The woman looks every bit the high-strung business woman. She has on a black skirt suit with barely visible pinstripes and a pink silk dress shirt. She even has black, sensible heels and her hair in a strict bun. However, the black hair is streaked with the occasional white strand, showing her age, and some of her hair has come out from her bun over the course of the day, making her look frazzled.

When the displaced regulars step off the bus, the woman sighs loudly with relief and rushes over to the Vice-Captain, apparently mistaking him for the Captain, "Thank goodness you're all here in one piece! I was so worried since you were late!"

Akazawa looks away, ignoring her hysterics. Mizuki twirls his hair, looking fantastically bored. Nomura meanwhile, has gained a great interest in his feet, adjusting his glasses so that no one can see his eyes. Judging by their reactions, this sort of display is not entirely unusual, nor unexpected. Saeki checks his watch, then looks back up to the woman with one eyebrow raised, "We're about five minutes late."

"Which is actually better than my estimate," Mizuki adds simply, with his usual tone of superiority.

Hoping to stop this situation from deteriorating further, Nomura turns to the woman and suggests, "Shouldn't you introduce yourself, Watabe-sensei?" The be-spectacled Saint Rudolph Vice-Captain sweat drops as the woman in question gasps in exaggerated shock, bringing one of her hands up to her mouth in feigned horror. The students of the Catholic school are notably unsurprised by her reaction (if exasperated), "Oh! How careless of me! I am Watabe Mitsuko, the principal of the Saint Rudolph Catholic Junior High School. I welcome you to this fine institution. next to me are: Akazawa Yoshiroh, the Captain of our tennis team, the Vice-Captain Nomura Takuya and the team's manager Mizuki Hajime."

"Nice to meet you," The SeiRu boys chorus together politely.

Saeki introduces the Rokkaku boys, since Mrs. Watabe seems to be waiting for him to do so, "I'm Saeki Kojiroh, Rokkaku's Vice Captain. This is Aoi Kentaroh, our Captain. Then there's Sudou Satoshi, Kisarazu Ryou, Itsuki Marehiko, Kurobane Harukaze and Amane Hikaru."

"Nice to meet you," His team replies in unison, some more enthusiastically than others.

"Now, hurry and get your things, boys, we need to get inside before somebody catches a cold." The Principal says, waving her hands at them to try and convey a sense of urgency.

Mizuki scoffs at her. Healthy, athletic teenagers who are properly dressed are not likely to get a cold on such an unseasonably warm spring evening, especially not in such a short amount of time. However, the data collector knows better than to make his scorn for the Principal's dramatics overtly known.

"Come along, come along." The older woman ushers the boys away from the bus once they are laden with their belongings. The entire walk she waxes on and on about the state-of-the-art facilities of the recently built school complex. once she brings them into the residence, she switches topics slightly, "We had a hard time making space for you all since our school is so popular. There's all ready been enough demand to warrant the construction of more residence space. We tried to keep you boys together as best we could, which involved some shuffling, however since there's an odd number of you, one of you will be sharing with one of our students, but we made sure it was with a member of our tennis team so you'd at least have something in common."

An older woman, with a warm motherly-like feel to her appearance walks up during the principal's rant. She coughs politely, adverting Mrs. Watabe to her presence, "This is Matsuei-san. She is the Residence Dean. I'll leave you in her care now, since I have work to do. Feel free to visit Matsuei-san or myself if you have any problems, especially homesickness, or trouble adjusting to the new situation, or-"

"Didn't you have an important appointment to keep, Watabe-san?" Ms. Matsuei points out, saving the tennis players from another melodramatic rant.

"Oh! You're right! Thank you, Matsuei-san, you saved me!" The principal scuttles off as quickly as she can without actually jogging. As she goes, they can hear her murmuring, "I'm late, I'm late..."

Ms. Matsuei leads them over to her office, which is perfectly positioned to watch the entry way, probably to enforce curfew. She picks up a piece of paper, standing next to a desk covered in small brown envelopes, "I'll start with some of the residences facilities. There are washroom areas, two on every floor, except the first which only has one. The first floor also has my personal apartment, the cafeteria and the laundry room. The nurses office is on the second floor. The floors other than the first each have a sitting area. On the roof there is a garden which is open to the students, like another sitting room. Curfew is 10:30pm, which is thirty minutes after the sports complex closes. Boys are allowed into the girl's res, and vice-versa, but obviously not after curfew, and only in the common areas, not individual rooms.

"Those are the most particular rules. Everything else is common sense, really, and in the papers you'll each be getting tonight. I'm sure you understand that you're representing your school, and will be on your best behaviour as such. Now, I'll tell you your room mates, room numbers, and give you your keys and information packages. I'll start with the third floor, Mizuki-kun will show you the way. In room 328, Kisarazu Ryou and Saeki Kojiroh."

The two third years step forward and Ms. Matsuei hands each of them a little envelope with keys in them, and a pack of papers with things like maps, class schedules, rules and general information. Once they have their packages, they follow the Saint Rudolph Manager who leads them to the stairs with a barely smothered 'nfu'. It may not be the way he had originally intended it, but the older Kisarazu brother is now in his school. Ryou, meanwhile, is just wondering if he could trade with someone, maybe room with Sudou instead of the slightly insane Saeki. He looks at the Vice-Captain who smiles at him, in a way that is not very comforting to the long-haired teen.

"Amane and Kurobane are in room 203, and Itsuki and Aoi are in 215." Each group receives their own new student package and are led off by an annoyed (as always) Captain Akazawa, leaving only the dean, Sudou and Nomura behind.

The remaining people hear a distant, "Why do I have to share a room with Aoi, I'm a third year, aren't I? Nande?" As the five teens disappear up the stairs.

Watching all his insane team mates leave, Sudou feels a little hopeful for the first time since they boarded the bus. Does this mean he's going to get a room to himself, free from his crazy tennis team? The Rokkaku player is only half right, as he would know if he'd paid more attention to the principal earlier.

"Sudou Satoshi?" Ms. Matsuei asks, double checking that she has the right name. He steps forward and gets his own package of key and papers, "you're in room 104, and Nomura Takuya will show you the way, since he's your new roomie."

The bespectacled boy leads him out of the common areas of the first floor into the hall with the actual residence rooms. There are quite a few heads peaking out of room doors. Apparently, the arrival of the tennis team from the recently 'exploded' Rokkaku Juniour High is quite a novel event for the Saint Rudolph boys. Sudou is lucky, however, since their room is one of the first ones in the hall.

"Good evening, Nomura-fukubuchou, da ne. Is that your new roommate da ne?" Asks a boy with strange lips from the room across the hall. He held in place, by the wrist, a boy who Sudou immediately recognizes as the younger Kisarazu twin. Atsushi nods in acknowledgment to him."

"It's pretty obvious isn't it? I mean, who else would it be?" The voice of a third, obviously put off boy from inside the room, mercilessly points out.

"Yuuta's just annoyed since the three of them have to share a room now, "Nomura assures Sudou, while opening the door and taking in some of the Rokkaku student's belongings.

"I thought he was grumpy all the time da ne."

The third roommate's fist whacks the one with the bill-like lips as he finally comes into view. "If you're going to be a pest, at least introduce yourself next time, Yanigasawa-sempai." Yuuta and Yanigasawa are quickly in a shouting match. This is apparently a normal state of things around the dorm since all the other onlookers go back to doing whatever they'd been doing before Sudou's arrival. Nomura heads over, trying to calm them down. Atsushi shrugs, deciding trying to stop the two is a lost cause and disappears back into the room. Sudou sighs, not that anyone can hear him do so over the arguing. Apparently the tennis players of Saint Rudolph are every bit as weird and annoying as his own team, and now both groups are together. Sometimes, he wishes he loved a more sane sport. Like Soccer, or Golf. He slams the door shut, actually getting the attention of the other boys. He immediately heads into the washroom to have a soothing shower.

The Vice-Captain hears the door close and goes to follow his new roommate, only to discover the door as locked, with his key on the opposite side. He bangs on the door, but can't seem to get the attention of the Rokkaku player. With a sigh of resignation, he heads off down the hall to get Ms. Matsuei to let him in the room. It's just one of those days, apparently.

* * *

Ugh, it took so long to get this out. Things are only going to get better from here on in! Reviews make me write faster, they are inspiration incarnate. Give Rokkaku and Saint Rudolph some love. Also, a shout out to people who attended Anime North, especially PoT cosplayers. 


	4. Phantom Plumber of SeiRu

By: Orestria (old pen name that she's too lazy to change; lady tyria)

Dedicated to: Michelle who got me addicted to Rokkaku, the Rokkaku LJ community that got me info I needed, ZombiPuri, and my life in residence, which was blessedly short.

Date Started: Jun 16, 2005

Rating: PG-13 I guess.

Disclaimer: Don't own it, or Dragnet, or Scooby Doo, or anything really. And finally, special thanks to our guest story, Shiba the Scary Stalker Reporter Lady. Or whatever her name is.

* * *

Love ROKKAKU!

Ch. 4; The Phantom Plumber of Saint Rudolph

Yuuta has gone to the gym to work out, and Atsushi went off for a walk, probably to avoid his ex-teammates. This leaves Yanigasawa Shinya peacefully alone in the residence room the three are stuck sharing. He takes advantage of this opportunity to practice his favourite hobby; Origami.

He folds along the crease, working slowly and carefully so the delicate paper will fold true... only to have his fingers slip, ruining it, when he suddenly hears a loud drip. Angrily, he tosses the now misshapen creature into the trash and stalks over to the window where he figures any such dripping would most likely be coming from. What meets him there is the view of an absolutely gorgeous full moon, and not a cloud, let alone a rain cloud in sight. Shrugging it off as a freak occurrence, he returns to his bed, taking a new piece of specialty paper and starting over.

Another drip comes, then another and another. They make a beat, and then the tempo keeps picking up until it is a constant stream, mirroring the constant stream of deformed origami creations being tossed in the garbage by an increasingly irate Yanigasawa Shinya. When one especially loud drop interrupts the hum of the stream just as Yanigasawa is finally one fold away from actually completing a project for the first time that evening, and said almost completed piece joins the rest in the trash, the teen lurches to his feet to examen the room, desperate to find the source of the noise. He isn't going to get any more work done if he can't put a stop to this. He vows to have the problem solved before he goes to bed that night.

He locates it at his desk area, soapy water dripping down from the ceiling, along the wall... and right down into the cardboard box that used to protect his completed masterpieces. 'Used to' since the box and the precious paper inside are now all soaked. They are quickly sent to join the mountain of paper in the near-overflowing waste bin.

"But... I'm on the first floor da ne," He states in confusion. His peaceful evening of origami slipping further and further away from him, he heads out the door into the narrow hall. He knocks on the door across the hall from his own. It's opened by the quiet Rokkaku boy, "What is it?"

"Is Nomura-kun in da ne?"

"No and I don't know where he is or when he'll be back. Try again later," Sudou tries to shut the door, but the Saint Rudolph player grabs him by the wrist, "My room is leaking da ne, and if our room has the problem, yours might too da ne."

That is how Sudou finds himself dragged into the room that three of the Saint Rudolph boys are forced to share. How did a simple evening of unpacking turn into staring at a growing water spot on the ceiling of the room of a boy he doesn't even know? He sighs, then inquires, "What's above here? Another room?"

"There's a room right on top, and a washroom beside it da ne."

"Must be the washroom then, some kind of problem with the plumbing," Sudou says dismissively before trying to head back to his room. However, Yanigasawa is a man on a mission, and he stops the Rokkaku third year and drags him over to the stairs and up to the second floor to investigate.

They reach the washroom area, whose design is so strange that students rumoured it was requested by Mrs. Watabe on a whim, just to be 'unique'. There are three sinks, two toilets, a bath tub and a shower stall in each of the building's seven washroom areas. The bizarre part is that each of these fixtures is behind its own door, in its own little room, just big enough for it. The washroom sections have tiled floors instead of the industrial carpeting of the rest of the hall, and are separated from the hall by double hinged swinging doors on either side.

Just as they come in the swinging door, a rather bewildered looking Amane Hikaru comes out of the 'bathtub room', holding a towel up around his waist. The three boys together stare at the shower room, which has water seeping out from under its wooden door. They then look at each other, no one really wanting to make the next move. Finally, Yanigasawa knocks on the door. There is no response. He tries the knob only to find it unlocked and swing the door open, which causes a mini-flood of water to swamp over their feet.

"A deluxe deluge. Pft." He looks expectantly at the other two boys, who ignore him completely. This makes him pout slightly, which also goes unnoticed by them.

"Oi, I thought the Principal said this place is new?" Sudou sneers at Yanigasawa."

"It is da ne!"

"Then how did someone using the bath make the shower overflow. It's not like it's old plumbing or anything."

"The overflow is overkill. Pft."

Sudou rolls his eyes, "That's not helping, Dabide."

The duck-like boy hems and huhs and da nes, trying to think of an explanation. While he deliberates, the Rokkaku players look at him, then each other. They go into the shower stall, trying to get it to stop pumping up water, but Sudou only manages to get wet up to his elbows. Meanwhile, Dabide isn't much help at all since he winds up putting more effort into keeping his towel up and his hair out of his face than into anything constructive.

"That's it da ne! I remember now da ne!" Yanigasawa suddenly exclaims, causing Sudou to bang his head on the hot water knob.

When his upper classmate begins to swear, Dabide admonishes him, "Don't get 'hot headed', sempai. Pft."

Sudou glares at him as the two Rokkaku players retreat back into the hall part of the washroom area so that the bill-lipped boy can explain his revelation.

"When I first moved in here, on of my sempai told me a legend about this building da ne. Apparently, during construction of the dorm, a plumber died under suspicious circumstances while working on the second floor da ne. They say that because of him, there are sometimes freak malfunctions in this washroom da ne."

All is silent, even dabide doesn't make a pun, as the gravity of this situation sinks in. The air seems chill to the Junior, although this may be since he's standing around in a towel. Sudou is skeptical. "I betcha that crazy principal of yours spread that rumour so people wouldn't think there was a problem with her precious building," He declares. After all, wouldn't a plumber make things work better anyways?

"Let's go tell Matsuei-san da ne." Yanigasawa decides. The three boys trek over to the stairs, leaving wet footprints on the carpeting behind them. They find the dean in her office and quickly inform her of the malfunction (although not Shinya's superstitious suspicions).

"I'm sorry you boys had to run into this sort of difficulty on your first day here." She says politely to the newcomers, "Yanigasawa-kun, would you please inform the janitor, Takeda-san? I think he's on the roof garden at the moment."

"I see... a garden-variety roof garden. Pft."

"Oh, what a delightfully optimistic boy. You won't let a thing like this get you down, I see. Have a lolli." The kindly old woman hands the redhead a treat, then shoos them all out of her office, waving at them with a pleasant smile.

"What a sweet... lady. Pft." Dabide says, before popping his sucker into his mouth. He follows his teammate, who is being dragged up the stairs by the Saint Rudolph student. Unfortunately, the stair well they're on doesn't go all the way to the roof. Instead, they have to walk to the opposite end of the 4th floor hall.

After the pass through the last washroom area between them and the other staircase, they notice something very strange. Right down the centre of the hall, there is a trail of water making the industrial carpeting darker than normal. Dabide becomes a little nervous, although it doesn't really come across in his pun "I'll trail behind you on the trail. Pft."

Even eerier, the water track continues up the centre of the stairs. About half way up to the roof, they start hearing a distant sounding thumping and an accompanying wail. Mental images of mournful spirits draped in chains, haunting a place for all eternity spring into each of their minds, and the three tennis players start walking closer together unconsciously. Yanigasawa wishes he didn't have to find the janitor. Sudou wishes he had his tennis racket with him (although he is undecided as to whether he'd use it on Shinya or the ghost... or both). Dabide simply wishes he was wearing pants.

They near the roof door, and the banging and yelling get louder and clearer until Yanigasawa realizes, "That's Takeda-san!"

The three rush up the rest of the stairs, only to find the roof door locked by a plunger stuck between the handles. A strong gust of wind gets through the door edges and blasts past them ominously. Could there really be some kind of Ghostly Plumber taking revenge on the dormitory building? After all, the janitor who happens to do all the on-site plumbing repairs would be an ideal target for such a vengeful visitor from the afterlife, wouldn't he?

They quickly remove the plunger, and open the door for Mr. Takeda. He thanks them, and then Sudou hands him the plunger, "This must be yours."

The janitor stares at the plunger, "No, mine has a green handle, not a gold one."

"And so we're 'plunged' deeper into mystery...Pft."

"What were you doing on the roof at this time of night, Takeda-san da ne?" Yanigasawa asks quickly, almost cutting off the punster.

"Well, the hose on the roof is broken, so the sprinkler system won't work. Until I can fix it, I have to carry water from the washrooms to here and water the plants manually." He holds up the buckets for them to see, "And I'm doing it at night so I won't disturb any students trying to enjoy the gardens."

The three teens huddle and whisper as the confused custodian watches on, "See?" Sudou say smugly, "The water was from Takeda-san carrying water. No plumber ghost."

"Then where did the plunger come from da ne? There is a plumber ghost da ne."

"So we can't agree on 'water' or not there's a ghost. Pft."

Sudou gives his teammate a leveling glance, then all three straighten and turn back to the maintenance worker, "Anyways, we're suppose to tell you that the shower on the second floor by the other stairs is overflowing."

The older man's back starts to ache just thinking about it, taking the opportunity to complain about the heavy lifting he did earlier too, "I don't think I have the energy to deal with that tonight." He hands a set of keys to Yanigasawa by a small key with a large 'B' on it, "You boys don't mind helping out an old man right? God down to the basement and turn off the water system labeled '2A'? This place is real high tech fancy-smancy, so a flip of a switch will do it. I'll put up an 'out of order' sign and vacuum up the water in the washroom itself."

"You might not want to do that da ne!" The Saint Rudolph doubles player exclaims, concerned for the safety of the old man, "The ghost plumber from the second floor might be after you da ne!"

"That's ridiculous!" The janitor laughs. Sudou grins, finally, someone capable of using logic. Or not, "The Phantom Plumber's in the basement. Drop the keys off under my door once you're done, all right?"

The three tennis players stare at the old custodian's back as he heads off down the hall. A dust mite that has always had aspirations of one day becoming a tumbleweed sees its chance and blows past them. "The Plumber Ghost is in the..." Yanigasawa stares at the little key labeled with a suddenly ominous 'B' in his hand, "...the basement da ne."

* * *

"Mister plumber took a wrench..." Dabide sings, rather tastelessly as they descend the stairs into the basement, "And filled Miss Mary's head with dents..."

"I don't want to hear it da ne!" Yanigasawa exclaims, hurrying ahead in front of the other two, covering his ears with his hands.

Dabide pays no mind and continues with his new version of the morbid song, rather proud of himself for coming up with it so quickly, "When he saw what he had done; he gave himself another one!"

"Ahh!" Yanigasawa suddenly drops from view, so shocked he didn't even manage to get in a da ne. The two Rokkaku boys rush down the remainder of the flight of stairs, only to find the other boy sprawled on his ass on the basement floor, his left leg twitching pathetically. Were this a cartoon, he would likely have little yellow duckies floating around his head.

"I thought it was spring, not 'fall'." Dabide quips.

Sudou looks at the younger boy incredulously, "I thought you were going to say 'Did you have a nice 'trip'?"

Dabide considers his upperclassman's suggestion a moment, before declaring seriously, "That cliched pun would be a 'false step'. Pft."

Yanigasawa wishes his head didn't hurt so. Sudou wishes Kurobane were here to get his partner in line. Dabide still kind of wishes he had pants on, but he was getting used to it. However, all of them were soon to wish that the cause of the Saint Rudolph boy's fal had been simple clumsiness. But no, the reason is the puddle of water on the cement basement floor he had unknowingly slipped on in his rush.

Once Yanigasawa gets up, the three of them try to find the water control switch, huddling together, trying not to be too freaked out by the fact that they're walking through a good half inch of water. Despite their fears, they find what they're looking for with no problem and switch it off.

"Can we go back to our rooms now?" Amane asks. He'd gotten colder in the basement, and could really go for some clothes right about now.

"We still have to get these keys back to Takeda-san." The Saint Rudolph boy reminds the other boys.

The trio are more than happy to get out of that water logged basement. once they're back up in the halls, Dabide attempts to lighten the mood. he points to Ducky's backside, which is dark with water from his recent encounter with the basement floor, "Yanigasawa-san 'wet' himself. Pft."

The strange-lipped player leans over to Sudou and asks quietly, "Is he always like this da ne?"

Dabide shuffles about, trying to lean in enough to hear what the older boys are whispering about, but he can't seem to succeed. Sudou thinks about it a moment, then responds, "Actually, I think he's doing it more than normal tonight. Don't know why though."

"Ah, I see da ne." The two straighten up and go back to walking as though they hadn't been doing anything out of the ordinary.

"You shouldn't talk behind my back when I'm behind your--" Dabide jolts upright, since someone or something just tapped his shoulder. The other boys turn to look at him quizzically, since one doesn't often hear Amane Hikaru start a pun and leave it hanging. All they can see though is the rather scared looking boy standing there.

Then, the kindly, but short frame of Ms. Matsuei, the residence dean, slips into view from behind the red-head. The three boys share a sigh of relief, although Sudou quickly hides his. Yanigasawa points out the obvious, "It's just Matsuei-san da ne."

"Where are you boys off to at this time of night?" She inquires politely, "There's only 10 minutes left until curfew, don't you know?"

"It's that late all ready?" Sudou asks. When exactly had they said curfew was again? Ten? Ten-thirty? Time sure flies when you're being dragged on wild goose chases by a crazy duck-billed boy.

"This is a special case da ne. We were running an errand for Takeda-san, and now we have to return his keys da ne." Yanigasawa holds up the keychain so the older woman can see it.

"I'll give you ten minutes after curfew, although I don't expect you'll need it," She takes a better look at the trio, and remembers the be-toweled redhead from earlier in the evening, "You! Not only a positive attitude after your change of locations and the incident in the bath, but lending a helping hand. What a wonderful young man. Have a lolli."

She pulls a tootsie roll out of a pocket and hands it to the redhead. She smiles with her eyes closed and waves serenely to them as they head out the door. Of course, once they step outside, the atmosphere isn't half as cheery. The bulb lighting the entry way flickers, it will probably need replacing soon. The Saint Rudolph student leads them off the paved, lit path that leads to the gates, and instead brings them over an unlit path, unpaved, only a path at all because it is worn into the ground from use. It winds around the side of the complex, hugging tightly to the metal exterior.

The path is squished between the building and a decorative hedge garden, the branches catching on Sudou and Yanigasawa's clothing, and scratching up Dabide's bare skin. The clothed two are really aggravated when they had to stop for a moment for the younger boy to rescue his towel from the grip of a particularly stubborn twig.

The trio moves on, not even the punster wanting to break the silence. The atmosphere is dark, and even Sudou, who keeps insisting he doesn't believe the ghost tale, can't help but feel chills coursing through him. As the path goes round the corner of the dorm, it also starts to move away from the safety of the building, sloping upwards at the same time.

The three students look up the small hill and see a small metal trailer framed by the black skeletons of trees that are only just starting to bud. The wind rustles through the bare branches ominously. It also blows past the boys, forcing Amane to hold the towel down over his bare bottom.

"Maybe you should have gotten dressed before coming out here, Amane-kun." Sudou is shivering himself, and he's wearing pants and a short sleeved top, not a towel.

"Not that a dress would help much." Amane puns, determined to keep making jokes, no matter how creepy things got, until one of these two finally reacts to one. Which they don't, ignoring him just like every other time that night.

"Let's not put this off any longer da ne." Yanigasawa starts walking towards the dingy little trailer.

"This is it, right, we just drop these off then we can go back to our rooms like none of this happened, right?"

The Saint Rudolph student nods. The short trip to the trailer door seems to take three times as long as it should. Yanigasawa blinks, "Strange da ne. The lights are on, could Takeda-san be back all ready da ne?"

Instead of just slipping the keychain under the door as the others had hoped he would, he knocks on the door. Even though he van hear the television, there is no response, "Takeda-san da ne? Are you in da ne?"

Sudou shrugs, "So, he's not in yet. He must still be vacuuming up the mess. Just slip the keys under the door, and then we can go back inside."

"What, is the one who didn't believe there's a ghost scared now da ne?"

"Not a ghost of a chance. Pft."

"If I'm scared, which I'm not really willing to grant, but if I was, it's not because of some super natural plumber. I'm cold, and I want to go back inside, is that so wrong?"

"Then get up on Amane-san's back and just check and see if you can see Takeda-san through the window da ne." Yanigasawa doesn't want to admit that, since the whole ghost thing, he is rather afraid for the kindly old janitor.

"You've got to be kidding me. Just slip the keys under the door so we can go." Sudou replies indignantly, glaring at the strange-lipped boy.

"I'm not putting the keys under until you look to see if takeda-san is there and ok da ne." Yanigasawa puts the key ring into his pocket and cross his arms. The two boys glare at each other for a moment.

"Fine!" Sudou declares. He gets his teammate to go over tot he side of the trailer, and he gets up on the redhead's back. He peers into the window. At first, the light blinds his night-adjusted eyes. He squints and tries to spot anything that could be a certain old custodian.

Finally, his eyes start to adjust tot he well-lit interior. He scans the rather shabby inside, and finally, in front of a TV flickering with static, Sudou spots a form slumped on a worn lazy-boy chair.

He puts his hands on the trailer and leaves his face against the window to help him peer in. He definitely recognizes the person in the chair as the old man from before. Just as Sudou identifies the janitor, his head lulls to the side limply, allowing the Rokkaku boy a good look at the face. If he had thought that Takeda-san was just asleep, he's now no longer so certain... since the man's eyes are still open!

"WAH!" Sudou exclaims in shock, shoving himself away from the window in horror. To stop them both from falling over, Dabide has to grab hold of his upperclassman's legs and scramble to regain his balance and footing. Unfortunately, this is rather bad for his ability to hold his towel up, and the younger boy finally loses his balance when he loses the towel, sending the two Rokkaku boys tumbling down to the ground with a loud thump.

Yanigasawa proceeds to laugh his ass off, "That was hilarious da ne! You look so ridiculous da ne!"

"How can you laugh when I've 'bared' my soul for you?" Amane stands up and puts his towel back on, far more dignified than the situation would suggest.

However, Sudou's not ready to laugh or make jokes, "Guys, we need to be serious here!"

Yanigasawa is sobered a bit by how freaked out the normally rather calm Rokkaku player is acting, "What is it da ne? What did you see da ne?"

"I don't want to jump to any conclusions but--well at first I thought he was sleeping but--"

"But what da ne?"

"...But his eyes were open."

"Open?" Dabide is so shocked he doesn't even think to pun. Yanigasawa meanwhile, is entirely speechless, "You mean he's--"

"I didn't say that! I mean, I don't know..."

"It's the ghost da ne..."

"There is no ghost!" Sudou protests, although he's no longer certain how convinced of that fact he is, "There's no such thing. Something else must have happened, I mean, he's kind of old..."

"Not that old da ne! He wouldn't just die like that da ne! He was fine when we saw him earlier da ne!" Yanigasawa yells, refusing to believe that the gentle janitor could be gone.

An awkward silence follows. What could anyone really say? During this profound quiet, all three boys hear loud rustling from the bushes behind the trailer. They look at each other wide-eyed. Another crinkling, then another. A deep murmur that sounds an awful lot like a voice...

The tennis players go into an urgent huddle, "That's it da ne. I don't' want to end up like Takeda-san da ne. Let's go inside like we never saw anything da ne!"

"The ghost was inside first, since you think that's what's going on, would that really be any safer? I think we should check out that noise."

"One wants to split, the other wants to split up..." Not even Dabide finds the humour in his pun.

"This isn't scooby doo, ro a bad horror film. There's no fucking way we're splitting up. Safety in numbers."

"If it's a murder like you seem to think, then I want to check it out even less da ne."

"Oh, I guess I was mistaken. I thought you care about Takeda-san, and would want to do what you could for him." Sudou says, purposefully just trying to get a rise out of the other third year.

"Ghost da ne."

"Murder."

"Ghost da ne!"

"Murder!"

Dabide watches the two older boys. Frankly, he doesn't care whether it's a ghost or a murderer, or a wild ANIMAL anymore. All he knows is he's cold, he's tired, and these two are simply incapable of enjoying a good pun. The redhead breaks the huddle, and treks around the trailer.

"Amane-kun!" Sudou quickly takes off after his younger teammate.

Yanigasawa looks around a moment, suddenly left alone... with a potential murderous ghost at large... He chases after the Rokkaku boys, "Wait for me da ne!"

The tennis players proceed in that manner, single file, into the woods. Despite the rustling from only a moment ago, the forest is now deathly silent. Dabide finds a small space between the tress, far too small to be a clearing, but at least big enough for the three of them to fit in with a bit of space to spare.

"We've been all around the back now," Sudou points out, "Maybe it was just an animal, a coincidence.

Dabide, still holding his towel up with one hand, bends over and picks something up off the ground. He straightens, still facing away from the older boys, without showing them whatever it is that he found. Quite calmly, he declares, "Sempai, we have been stalking... A stocking," He whirls to face them, a woman's beige, knee high nylon in his hand, "Pft."

Sudou rolls his eyes, then examines Dabide's finding, "Still, there's something really strange about this. That looks clean, not like it's been out in the woods a while..."

He doesn't get to complete his evaluation since behind them a twig snaps. There is silence, and then the sound of another snap, closer.. then a third, right behind the boys. Sudou feels a large hand on his shoulder, and he screams. The other boys join in, screaming along as well.

"Calm down." Says the obviously flesh-and-blood man before them. A man in a rather expensive suit, and fixing his crooked ascot, "I'm Sakaki-sensei from Hyotei Gakuen, not some suspicious person."

"Not suspicious? A Hyotei teacher in the woods behind a Saint Rudolph Dormitory?"

"Sakaki-sensi was counseling me in some matters relating to our new tennis situation here, "Admits a woman, just before she steps into view. It's Watabe-san, the principal that the Rokkaku boys had met earlier in the evening, when they first arrived. Now, however, her hair is loose, her shirt buttoned up wrong, and one of her nylons is missing, "Since he's the coach of the renown Hyotei Tennis team."

"is this the 'appointment' you were late for earlier?" Sudou asks with one eyebrow raised suspiciously, and possibly feeling a little disturbed by the whole situation.

"Never mind that, what are you boys doing out here after curfew?" She asks, triumphantly, hoping any suspicions about her will be forgotten in their own guilt.

"We were helping Takeda-san da ne. Matsuei-san gave us permission da ne." Yanigasawa explains simply, feeling no guilt at all since he's just doing what was asked of him.

A rather strained silence follows. A rustling in the bushes to their left makes everybody slowly look over. A dark figure breaks through the brush. The boys and the principal scream. Sakaki loosens his ascot a little nervously. When the figure comes into full view, the boys scream again, but Mrs. Watabe is relieved, "Oh, it's just Takeda-san."

The old janitor rubs his eyes a little in disbelief. What are all these people doing behind his trailer? "What's all the screaming and yelling back here about? Don't you folks know what time it is?"

The trio of tennis players rub their eyes a little in disbelief, "Takeda-san, you're alive da ne!"

"Of course I'm alive. What on earth would make you think any differently?"

"But, I saw you in your trailer, slumped over with your eyes open!" Sudou exclaims, starting to put a little more stock into Yanigasawa's belief in ghosts.

"Oh, that. It happens sometimes when I'm sleeping and really stressed. In fact, I have prescription eye drops for when my eyes are all dry after, I had to take them just now before coming out here to check what the ruckus was."

"Well now, that's that. Now boys, I don't care if you have permission or not, it's not safe to be out in the woods after dark. I want you all to go back inside right this instant. There could be _perverts_ out here!"

The three boys just look at the three adults, possibly trying to decide which is weirder. Finally, Sakaki gets annoyed at their passivity, and orders, "Itte yoshi!" signaling down with two fingers.

The trio shrug and file back towards the dorms, not without Sudou giving Sakaki a funny look on his way by though.

"I still think there's something funny going on here da ne." Yanigasawa declares on they're out of ear shot.

"I told you there's no such thing as ghosts. Especially not plumber ghosts." Sudou replies.

The two start bickering again. Dabide just sighs, "This argument has life after death. Pft."

* * *

**Outcome Report**

Sakaki Tarou. Hyotei middle school's music teacher and tennis coach. This night doesn't have much effect on him at all. He went home afterwards and had a strawberry bubble bath. It was very relaxing.

Watabe C. Mistuko. Saint Rudolph Catholic Institute's Principal. She has denied that the events of this night ever occurred. Although, notably, she never wore stockings again.

Takeda Shou. Saint Rudolph Catholic Institute's Custodian. He still lives in his run-down old trailer. He has since taken up Yoga as a form of stress relieve, to try and prevent any further sleeping with his eyes open.

Amane 'Dabide' Hikaru. Second year at Rokkaku Middle School, staying at Saint Rudolph Catholic Institute due to a series of bizarre circumstances. Since the events of this night, he has finally put on pants.

Sudou Satoshi. Third year at Rokkaku Middle school, also now staying at Saint Rudolph Catholic Institute. That night, he slept with a flashlight on under his blanket.

Yanigasawa Shinya. Third year at Saint Rudolph Catholic Institute. He spent the night rebuilding his origami collection, starting with a well-crafted yellow duck.

Phantom Plumber.

Second floor or basement, real or not, this legend is still unconfirmed in any way.

* * *

That chapter is doooooooone. This is a bit more like the way the story's always supposed to be... insane! Stupid set-up chapters. Drop a line, because I'm going to need hella courage to tackle the ideas I have for the next chapter.

slowly going insane...


End file.
